9 bedroom detached house for sale
Key information
Property description & features
- Tenure: Freehold
- Impressive Grade II listed country house originally designed as an Italianate palace
- Planning permissions to restore to its former glory
- Works have commenced mitigating hidden costs
- Fabulous rural setting within its own parkland
- Elevated position with spectacular far-reaching views over the Blackdown Hills
- Terraced walled garden and ancient woodland
- Planning permission for a pool house and ancillary accommodation
Description
Blackborough House is a remarkably impressive Grade II listed country house set in a fabulous rural setting within its own parkland and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The house proudly stands in an elevated position with spectacular far-reaching views over Devon undulating country and the Blackdown Hills.
Whilst Blackborough enjoys this rural idyll, it also benefits from excellent communications from the A303, M5 and Tiverton Parkway providing a regular train service to London Paddington taking within two hours.
The house is currently derelict and requires a complete renovation. However, planning has been granted to restore Blackborough House to its former glory and to reinstate it once again as one of Devon’s finest architectural masterpieces.
The works have already commenced and many of the hidden costs that can be associated with a project of this scale have been mitigated. The East Wing has undergone the majority of the works, including a completely new roof, and has received planning permission to be a separate dwelling. The principle suite in the West Wing has also been refurbished to an exceptionally high standard and boasts a 2m copper bath from Catchpole & Rye.
The current owner’s passion for Blackborough House is illustrated by the intricate detail and the amount of time and energy invested in the planning process. This has included architect drawings, heritage statements, ecological reports and surveys, ground/soil reports and design and access statements; a costly process but which ended in successful planning being granted for an exceptional design.
The house was built in 1838 for George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont. Originally it was designed as an Italianate palace and extends over 22,000 ft sq across four floors (including basement). Constructed from stucco bricks with stone dressings the house has an abundance of striking features including an impressive arched loggia around three sides of the house.
The East Wing
The East Wing is currently planned to be a separate dwelling - but can be incorporated into the main house – designed to be substantial ancillary accommodation for staff or family members. This wing has a separate entrance to the West Wing.
It has undergone most of the commenced works and was the part of the house in the worst condition. It has now been made stable and has a completely new roof with rebuilt Italianate styled and lime rendered chimneys.
It has its own entrance and the proposed rooms includes an entrance hall, study, cloakroom, new conservatory and a large open planned and double height kitchen/dining/living room with four French windows (two of which enter the conservatory) and three roof lanterns.
There are plans for four ensuite bedrooms, one with a walk-in wardrobe.
Further Ancillary Accommodation
In addition to the East Wing, there is further ancillary accommodation in the west wing of the main building. On the first floor there is a caretaker’s flat comprising kitchen, sitting room, bedroom and bathroom.
On the second floor there is a family flat comprising its own entrance hall, kitchen/living room and two ensuite bedrooms.
The Grounds
The house is approached via a descending tree lined drive from the hamlet of Blackborough. There are plans for an arched gateway for the main entrance with a sweeping driveway around the south facing aspect of the house leading up past the pool to a turning circle on the west side providing ample parking.
The house’s elevated position allows it to survey its grounds that have been extensively cleared, re-soiled and seeded creating attractive parkland that descends into a stunning valley to the south. .
The parkland has an array of mature trees, including a magnificent Wellingtonian and beech tree, and leads to an impressive terraced walled garden that would an exciting project for any green fingered person. Beyond the walled garden is ancient woodland that has a walkable path running through it. A stream intersects the steeper end of this section of land and it covered in wild garlic and wild orchids during the spring.
Hidden within the woodland are the remnants of a cottage which, subject to planning, could provide the footprint for further ancillary accommodation.
The Pool House
Planning has also been granted to build a large pool house adjacent to the swimming pool to the west of the house.
Location
Blackborough is a small hamlet situated close to the picturesque village of Kentisbeare, in the heart of the Blackdown Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Here you will find a good range of your day to day needs such as local shops, post office, pub, church and village hall. Cullompton, a market town, is approximately 6 miles away with a much wider range of shops and facilities and slightly further afield is the thriving city of Exeter, just 19 miles away.
Exeter is a thriving city which boasts The Princesshay Shopping Centre, Guildhall Food Halls, and a John Lewis Department store, as well as an extensive selection of independent shops and eateries, theatres, an award winning museum and a world class University.
Communication links for Blackborough House are superb. To the south there is the A30 with access to London via the A303 and the M3 and also going west to Exeter and beyond. To the north there is the M5 which links to Exeter and Bristol.
Tiverton Parkway is approximately 7.7 miles away and provides a regular train service to Paddington taking from two hours and from Exeter St David taking from 2 hours and 3 minutes. Exeter International airport is just 18 miles away with flights to a large variety of international destinations including daily flights to City airport and local airfield Dunkeswell is just 4 miles away.
There are some excellent schools in the area, including Blundell’s at Tiverton, Exeter School, The Maynard School, Exeter Cathedral School and Taunton School, all less than 20 miles away.
Square Footage: 11,818 sq ft
Acreage: 10.4 Acres
Directions
From junction 28 of the M25 take the A373, Honiton Road. After 2 miles turn left signposted to Kentisbeare and follow this road toward the village. Just before entering the village, Blackborough is signposted on your right. The road takes you directly to the village of Blackborough, approximately 2 miles from Kentisbeare. On entering the village turn left towards the church and the driveway to the property can be found to the left of the church.
Additional Info
Mains water
Heating and electricity: Off grid solar power and battery storage system. Planning permission for biomass heating system.
Places of interest
See more properties like this:
*DISCLAIMER
Property reference LAC220193. The information displayed about this property comprises a property advertisement. OnTheMarket.com makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the advertisement or any linked or associated information, and OnTheMarket.com has no control over the content provided by the agent or developer. This property advertisement does not constitute property particulars. The information is provided and maintained by Savills - Country Houses Sales.
OnTheMarket may have applied supplementary data to this property listing, including:
Broadband availability and predicted speed
Broadband speed is measured in megabits per second, with the number returned showing how fast the connection is. Each reading is based on the highest predicted speed of any major broadband network for services that deliver the download speeds. The following are the different readings that we may display:
Basic: Up to 30 Mbit/s
Super-fast: Between 30 Mbit/s and 300 Mbit/s
Ultra-fast: Over 300 Mbit/s
The data is updated three times a year. The checker results are predictions and should not be regarded as guaranteed. For more information, see: https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/about-checker#Answer_0_2
Mobile phone signal availability and predicted strength
Mobile signal predictions are provided by the four UK mobile network operators: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. Predictions can vary significantly from the coverage you may actually experience as a result of local factors (especially terrain). Ofcom has tested the actual coverage provided in various locations around the UK to help ensure that these predictions are reasonable. The values shown against a property can be broken down as follows:
Clear: No bars, no signal predicted
Red: One bar, reliable signal unlikely
Amber: Two bars, may experience problems with connectivity
Green: Three bars, likely to have good coverage and receive a data rate to support basic web services
Enhanced: Full bars, likely to have good coverage indoors and to receive an enhanced data rate to support multimedia services
Energy Performance data and Internal floor area
Any supplementary data should not be relied upon as forming part of any property particulars and OnTheMarket cannot be held responsible for any incorrectness in this data. See here for more information.